As the Episcopal Church of Maryland reels over last Saturday's fatal
hit-and-run accident involving their second-highest ranking official, Heather
Cook, 58, some Episcopalians say she should've never been promoted so soon
after her 2010 DUI, while others say they weren't informed about her scandalous
brush with the law before her election last spring.

Cook, who was elected as the first female bishop of the Episcopal
Church of Maryland in May, hit 41-year-old married father of two, Thomas
Palermo, as he cycled on a Baltimore roadway Saturday afternoon then fled the
scene as he lay dying. She only returned to see what she had done after other
cyclists reportedly chased her down.

An investigation into her background by several media outlets this
week highlighted details of a shocking 2010 DUI where she was reportedly so
drunk she couldn't complete a sobriety test.

The Diocese acknowledged the reports in a statement on Tuesday, and
explained that they had forgiven the bishop.

“One of the core values of the Christian faith is forgiveness. We
cannot preach forgiveness without practicing forgiveness and offering people opportunity
for redemption," the Diocese said in their statement.

"As part of the search process, Bishop Cook fully disclosed the
2010 DUI for which charges were filed resulting in a 'probation before
judgment.' After extensive discussion and discernment about the incident, and
after further investigation, including extensive background check and
psychological investigation, it was determined that this one mistake should not
bar her for consideration as a leader," it continued.

Several people who were part of the bigger convention that elected
Cook to the high church office told The Washington Post that the information on her DUI was not revealed to them
during the wider election.

Writing in an online forum called Episcopal Café, Fr. John Farrell, a priest in recovery for 40 years and whose LinkedIn profile lists
him as "blissfully retired," said Cook's elevation to the position of
bishop by the Diocese, knowing of her 2010 DUI, was a very risky and apparently
unprecedented decision.

"I was shocked to learn she was charged in 2010 with DUI and
possession of pot. Could someone tell me where the hell the Suffragan Search
Committee was on this one? Heather Cook led the field in a slate of five women
candidates. It strikes me that Maryland's political zeal to have a woman suffragan
blinded the people who should have vetted all five properly," wrote
Farrell in one of several comments.

He continued: "Understanding that [the] discussion of alcohol
and alcoholism in the Cook case is sheer speculation, I'd like to make several
tentative remarks to those who might argue that Bishop Cook may have
demonstrated to the search committee that she was in a recovery program and was
addressing her alcoholism successfully. On that basis, the committee may have
decided not to jeopardize her chances by making the matter public. Be that as
it may, as a priest in recovery for 40 years, I can tell you this was not the
case when I was interviewed by a Commission on Ministry in 1985."

"At that point commissions were looking for at least 10 years
of continuous sobriety before a person in recovery could be ordained. Upon
advice, that was the time period regarded as necessary to reach full recovery
with a diminished chance of relapse. If she was elected with less than two
years of sobriety and expected to withstand the rigors of the episcopacy
emotionally unprepared, a relapse might have been predicted," he noted.

Another recovering alcoholic and United Church of Christ pastor,
Rev. Emily C. Heath, agreed in an op-ed posted to her website Thursday that the time was too short between her DUI and
elevation.

"As far as her consecration as bishop, a very short period of
time had elapsed between her DUI incident and her elevation. If she was sober,
she was still in 'early sobriety' and taking on a position like this, with
higher stress and demands on time, would have likely been discouraged. And, if
she relapsed, as now seems likely, it was on her to step back and say, 'I need
to focus on getting healthy,'" wrote Heath.

"But Bishop Cook alone is not at fault. Church communities are
often too quick to push those who have had major falls back into the spotlight.
They are not doing the one who is recovering any favors by pushing a false
rhetoric of 'forgiveness' or 'grace,'" Heath asserted. "Sometimes
grace means saying 'you need to work on yourself for a while.'"